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A community for the NBC show "Awake".

"After a car accident takes the life of a family member, a police detective lives two alternating parallel lives, one with his wife and one with his son. Is one of his "realities" merely a dream?" ~IMDB

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Spoilers Below, don't read if you have not seen the series finale, unless you want the last of it ruined. Note that this is also Part 1 of 2. Part 2 is located in the comments of this post.

Let's start off with one of the fundamental orders of the show: the order of the realities. As Britten says in Episode 11 (one of my favorites), it's always been:

Hannah, Rex, Hannah, Rex

In fact, in the very first episode, the first reality we see following the car accident is the red reality.

While there is no direct proof that the red reality was the first one Britten "woke" up to after the accident (because we never see the day after the crash, either to explore it in a later season or purposely ignore it), this is the closest information we currently have in determining which reality was first. In the big picture of things, this isn't really a big deal either way.

This theory explores the possibility that neither realities are dreams. Both realities exhibit dream-like attributes and hallucinations, but this issue could possibly be resolved when Britten learns how to control his "dream space" (Killen's own words, taken from here, we'll discuss this at length shortly) later on.

For whatever reason, Britten has had his reality shattered into two sub-realities: the red and the green. Note the terminology I'm using: realities. Realities aren't dreams. They aren't fake. They aren't made up. Reality is what actually exists. As such, both worlds are equally real.

Whether or not this logic is the actual plot mechanic of the show or just the abstract framework fueling a mental disorder of Britten's due to the tragic emotional shock he experienced from the wreck, it's hard to say. We don't get access to that level of clarity in the show. Again, this theory is operating under the assumption that, whether in Britten's head or not, both the red and the green are fully detailed realities that obey physics and logic, as he describes in episode 13 when talking to Dr. Evans. It also explains why he feels that what he does in one reality "doesn't matter" (or, rather directly effect) the other.

Throughout the show, Britten begins to learn that because of the similarities of the realities, he can use information from one reality to influence the outcome of another. Since the red reality happened first (or at least, from what he's said he remembers), Britten is far more curious and tenacious in this world. Where, in the green, he's more calm and surprisingly accurate and cunning.

Just like our brains, Britten's picks up far more information subconsciously than what he consciously observes. Since his mind has stopped the traditional cycle of waking life followed by dreaming and is replaced with waking life (red) followed by waking life (green), his mind must "dream" in parts of both instead. These are the hallucinations.

Dreaming, or at least a common interpretation of it, is when our mind processes subconsciously recorded information. In fact, it could be part of the process that helps our brain allocate which of the details we observed today that belongs in our long term memory and which unimportant stuff belongs in the short term memory, which is quickly forgotten and overwritten by new short term memories.

When a certain function of the brain stops, another part can take over it's function. We've actually discovered this from the early days of lobotomies in the early 1900's. Similarly, since Britten's brain is not working properly (or working differently, in a way it's not intended to work) and has stopped dreaming, the brain compensates by littering both of his realities with hallucinations. These hallucinations are subconscious clues that the brain thinks are important for him in choosing the best possible outcome given his current circumstances.

What really demonstrates this technique is in Episode 6, That's Not My Penguin, another one of my favorites of the show. While trying to negotiate with a mental patient in the red reality during a hostage situation, Britten gets injected with a powerful hallucinogen. (Dr. Evans mentions ketamine, although it would be unlikely patients would have easy access to that as it's not commonly used anymore. However, since she believes that the red reality is an illusion and is just interested in the "dream" itself, giving Britten a simple and widely known example so that he would continue telling her what happened next makes more sense.)

That's not to say he didn't get injected with a hallucinogen. Drugs like seroquel are widely used in mental facilities to treat a variety of symptoms and disorders and in large doses would not only knock someone out who hasn't built up a tolerance (like Britten), but would also likely cause severe hallucinations.

This chemical, since it effects Britten's brain, effects both realities. This is why immediately waking up to the green reality after being injected, Britten sees the penguin. Likewise, it's what causes him to see the penguin and Dr. Lee when he wakes back up in the red reality. Until the drug is out of his system in the red reality (where the injection occurred), both realities will be effected.

This causes a mental breakthrough: Britten's subconscious is now able to communicate with him more directly in both of these realities. Upon discovering this, his subconscious begins to bleed in to both of his realities more intensely, even after the drug has been out of his system for weeks.

Since he makes a majority of his mistakes in the red reality (such has running after his subconscious version of Hawkins, causing a car accident that he then fled from, and tipping off Harper and Kessler by having a sketch artist draw up Hawkin's face), his demeanor is much more calm in the green reality. This is also why he is able to make actions that bring him more success rather than failure, because when certain attributes of both realities begin to cross over, Britten is literally getting a second chance in certain instances.

Put in another way: Britten has more information to act off of in his decision making in the green reality because he's already done it in the red one.

He becomes more and more risky in the red reality because he begins to see how advantageous the information is to him in the green reality. However, he unknowingly begins to sacrifice the perception of his sanity to everyone else in the red reality.

Still on the same page now? Great. Now let's talk about the dream state.

After using information he gained in the green world subconsciously and hearing about Ed Munte being used as an alias for Kessler in the hotel, Britten realizes Harper is in on the conspiracy and has been collaborating with Kessler the whole time (finally bringing him up to speed with the audience) while still in the red reality. Enraged, he attempts to kill her when given the chance.

After being tased and restrained, an exhausted Britten is left alone in his cell with Harper walking out of the building and mentally crapping herself. Sitting on the bed and leaning against the cold concrete wall, we see his eyes flutter and begin to close.

Suddenly, we jump to a second shot where Britten is completely aware and no longer tired. The red filter has also gone away and we see a filterless reality. This is what Killen refers to as "the dream space". When Britten enters a dream space, just like when we dream, it feels completely natural to the point where he doesn't remember falling asleep and thus doesn't realize he is dreaming. Again, as Killen says, he is not yet lucid in this dream space and this would explain why Britten doesn't realize he is dreaming.

Walking in to talk to himself on the other side of the room (which is green), Britten is accessing subconscious information obtained from the green reality. It is now that we begin to realize the function of the dream space: it's a process by which his subconscious can directly communicate to him without interrupting him in either reality. Or, in other words, his brain has adapted to dream around the two realities.

This "Green Britten" is his subconscious self, giving the real Britten who is currently accessing his dream space for the first time, the ammunition he needs to prove Harper shot Kessler in the green reality. This is further demonstrated when he leaves the room and enters the hotel room he was previously in and Penguin-Vega (showing us that this is in no way real, as if the previously freaky scene wasn't enough) breaks down how Harper broke a part of her heel off in the room, combining what he subconsciously observed when he visited the crime scene with Byrd in the green reality earlier with what he subconsciously heard when Harper was walking away, her heel clicking.

With these two pieces of information realized, Britten has all he needs to put Harper behind bars in the green reality.

Skipping the fancy dinner scene, Britten walks out and enters a room that turns out to be his bedroom from the Green Reality. Just as he entered the dream space seemlessly, he exits into the green reality seemlessly.

Now awake in the green reality, he uses the information gained from the dream space to pin Harper on Kessler's death. We now cut to Britten talking about everything that just happened to Dr. Evans, who believes instead that the "dream space" isn't some kind of space that's between the red and the green (which I believe it is), but is rather a "dream" inside the red reality, which she also believes is a dream. This is why they both mention dreams within dreams.

Their conversation causes Britten to have an epiphany: if the dream space is, in fact, a dream as Dr. Evans suggests, then he should be able to influence it and change it. Upon that realization, that's exactly what happens. Just as before, Britten seemlessly enters into the dream space. This time, instead, he's transitioning from the green reality into the dream space. (Again, it seems that the green reality more and more begins to serve as his "second chance" in experiencing things.)

The sudden freezing of Dr. Evans in mid sentence is just demonstrating that Britten is becoming more and more aware of this newly discovered dream space.

So, with Dr. Evans frozen, a magical door with "private" written on it opens (representing that the dream space is really like a mental dream-like Fortress of Solitude), and Britten gets to experience one of his greatest desires (especially in lieu of what's just transpired in both the red reality and the green reality in the last 24 hours): his wife and son back together with him. This is also why the scene is filterless.

This also explains why Killen talks about how they were going to explore this dream space more and more in the second season. This theory also permits (or, rather, necessitates) that both realities are indeed real. While really limited, we see examples in both the red and the green as to how neither can be a dream or fabrication. Being able to read a random line from the Constitution in Episode 1 is pretty convincing for the green reality, while cracking the password "tulip" in the red reality (which also works on the computer in the green reality) is a pretty good indicator that red is just as real too.

(Otherwise if the green were real and the red were fake, it would mean that when Byrd knocked out Britten in the green reality, he caused Britten to magically dream and guess-with absolute precision no less-Hawkin's password, despite not even knowing how many characters it was or having any reference to tulips or anything connecting Hawkins to tulips.)

This henceforth, shall be referred to as the Tulip Theory.

Edit: Formatting and Grammar

Final Note: Britten was able to combine the information he has on each individual person from the reality they are tied to (Hannah Red, Rex Green) and create a dream space that allows him to see what it would be like if they both were alive in a single reality together. While people have been misinterpreting it as "It was all a dream and he finally woke up", ironically it's really more along the lines of "He was awake the entire time and finally got to sleep, dreaming of his wife and son together."

I love the irony that the ending of a show called "Awake" features a scene where Britten is actually asleep (or, at least not active in either reality).

Fascinating read! As a poster here says, that leaves the question how he inhabits two realities? As I've written in other posts on this subreddit, I was always under the impression this show was more supernatural/sci-fi than about one man's psyche. But who knows? Based solely on what we saw on TV, we'll never know, which is disappointing.

If you've noticed though, that's the door of the office building (which, for a private office where sessions are held, it's not uncommon to have a door with "Private" written on it. I actually work at a medical office and that's pretty standard.

You'll also see that the private door goes into the office, whereas the door inside the dream space goes into the dream space (and it quickly closes in the opposite direction of the private door, replacing it).

Thanks for this post, it's a good read :) You managed to articulate my own thoughts on the show as well. This makes perfect sense to me and seems to fit perfectly.

The only unanswered question (admittedly it's a big one) is how/why he inhabits two realities and is able to move between them. Presumably it's linked to the accident but that's all we know (I think?).

EDIT: Thinking about it, I guess the 'why' is implied to be the accident, so it's just the 'how' left up in the air.

Extremely excellent and insightful. I just watched the end and was confused so I came here and, even if this isn't the ending that was intended, I've accepted it as what it should be and feel very satisfied.